Chapter 2 5
- 1. Heeey everyone! Remember how I said last chapter would be the last one until December because NaNoWriMo was coming up? Well, I lied but it was a good lie! This will be the last update until December. Yeah, I started writing this chapter and couldn’t stop. The end result? 2 chapters in a month, this one ready for NaNo! Anyway, as you might remember, last time all the Mertons and the Browns kids hit their teen years along with Nev Merton. They went to school and stuff happened. If that doesn’t sound familiar then maybe you should go back and reread the chapter.
- 2. Only moments after the final bell of the day rang Harry was already waiting anxiously outside the doors to the school. He watched carefully as throngs of students made their way to the buses, or walked off home if they lived close enough. Almost everyone was gone and only one bus remained when finally Alana emerged from the school with Flic.
- 3. “Look after each other, you two,” Flic said, waggling her finger at them as she walked backwards towards the buses. “I would hate to have to come after either of you!” “Flic!” Harry gasped, turning red even as Alana laughed. “Don’t worry,” she said, grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him towards the town. “I won’t do anything you wouldn’t do!” “That’s not reassuring!” Flic yelled back, but there was a sparkle in her eye as the climbed on the bus.
- 4. “Y-you want-” “Oh don’t be silly,” Alana rolled her eyes at the stutter. “It’s only the first date. SO where we going.” “Oh good – I mean –“ Harry gulped, swallowing hard down on his nervousness. “I thought we’d go roller skating. You like skating, right?” “Of course, who doesn’t?”
- 5. The pair of them walked in silence for a few moments. Harry would occasionally sneak glances at her, then look away immediately, blushing. Alana didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she looked pretty damn happy with herself as they walked down the street. Alana didn’t look like she thought the silence was awkward at all. Still, he better say something. “So, ah, how was your day?” he asked. He grimaced – that was lame! Why did he ask something so incredibly lame? What was wrong with him!
- 6. Alana didn’t notice. “It was okay, I guess,” Alana said, shrugging. “All the classes are harder and I can hardly do the work, and the teachers don’t like it when me and Flic talk to each other, but that’s the same as grade school. They didn’t like us talking much in class back then either. What about you? Find any of the classes interesting?” “I liked lunch, but the rest of the day was pretty much as waste. It was like all of it was either way too hard or exactly the same stuff they taught us last week.” “Really? I didn’t notice,” Alana replied. “Did you listen to the teacher?” “Well no – hey, how do you know that, Harry Brown?”
- 7. “It’s kinda hard to miss you and Flic talk all through every class,” he admitted, shrugging sheepishly. “All the teachers tell you to be quiet like ten times a day.” “I guess, I mean they do it like every single lesson – lunch too, can you believe it?” “Really?” “Well, no but I wouldn’t put it past them,” Alana said, shrugging her shoulders. She looked around, blinking in surprise as they stopped. “Oh, cool! We’re here! I could’ve sworn it was further away than this!”
- 8. “It’s only a twenty minute walk to anywhere in town, Quaverton’s still pretty tiny,” he said as they crossed the road, then added at her inquisitive look, “Dad makes us walk everyone. He says it’d be good for us all, but I think he just doesn’t want to buy us all cars. Gavin would probably want a really expensive one if he did.” “The Mums tried the same thing, we just catch the bus or get taxis instead though,” Alana paused, looking thoughtful. “Rosa would probably want an expensive car too. Must be a Fortune sim thing... Enough of them! Let’s go skating!”
- 14. While Alana was out on her date Dec was working hard on his business. Brown’s Swings ‘n’ Things was doing well as a business – incredibly well, in fact. Although it had only been open a few short weeks the business had already skyrocketed from to a Level 9 business, one of the best in the town. It seemed like all the years Dec had spent as Mayor convincing the public that things would work out for the best had paid off and made him into the perfect salesman. Now all he needed to get Swings ‘n’ Things to Level 10 was one more star, and he knew just the sim. “And here you are, sir! Our finest slide!” “Hmm, I don’t know…” the teen behind him said hesitantly. “I’m a goth, and a townie. What use is a slide?” “It’s blue?” As pathetic as that was, the teen bought it and three others. He also gave Dec the last star he needed.
- 15. With Swings ‘n’ Things now an official success, Dec promoted one of his more talented employees to manager and headed off to his other business, Motors & Autos. He’d bought the car lot a few days before when it became apparent that Swings ‘n’ Things would hit level 10 soon. Dec wasn’t expecting Motors & Autos to be such as big a success as Swings ‘n’ Things. Even the cheapest of cars was much more expensive than the most expensive playground equipment, and the town was easily small enough to walk from one side to another in twenty minutes. Dec didn’t count on one thing.
- 16. Teenagers, specifically fortune sim teenagers. Rosa and someone of the fortune sim townie teens dropped by on Dec’s first afternoon on the lot, just to check what was going on. After he caught her looking at some of the cars Dec went over to talk to her. To cut a long story short, Rosa left the lot with five cars. Amelia was going to kill him.
- 17. But hopefully not before he figured out how you fit multiple cars in a teeny tiny bag.
- 18. Several hours after school finished Alana skipped into the house feeling as light as air and as happy as can be. She felt like singing! While she had expected her date with Harry to go pretty well it had actually far exceeded what she had expected. Humming to herself, Alana threw her homework down on the floor then walked on the tips of her toes to the kitchen, dancing as she walked. "Good afternoon, Mums," she greeted them as she reached into the fridge for a snack. "Dinner's in the oven, sweetie," Ichelle said. "Don't eat too much, you'll ruin your appetite.“ "I won't," Alana replied. Seeing nothing she wanted in the fridge, she span on her heel and headed to the table, wrapping her arms around Amelia. "I love you guys.“
- 19. Amelia and Ichelle shared a look. "Someone's very happy," Amelia stated. "What are you after?” "Nothing," Alana shook her head, still grinning. "I'm just happy to see you two!" Amelia and Ichelle shared another look, before an expression of comprehension passed over Ichelle's face. "So your date with Harry went all right?" Ichelle asked. Alana nodded. "It was wonderful!" she said. "We went skating and we got coffee and -"
- 20. “Harry? As in Harry Brown, Dec’s boy?” Amelia asked, standing and facing Alana. “Yeah, he’s so cute and sweet and –” Alana stopped suddenly spotting the concerned expression on her mother’s face. “What?” “You’re both playables.” “So? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
- 21. “I know that, Alana,” Amelia sighed. This was difficult, far more difficult than she’d expected. “It’s just, well we’re a legacy family, and so are Harry’s family. Neither family has made a decision on who gets to be heir yet and –” “Oh, is that all?” “What do you mean, is that all?”
- 22. “Mum, I’m 14. I might be a family sim, but I’m not thinking about marriage just yet,” Alana said, smiling. “Harry’s great and all, but I’m not thinking that far ahead. Besides, you and Harry’s dad will probably know who’s taking over by the time we all leave for college, right?” “Well, maybe…” “Great! So if we’re still together by then and either of us are heir then we just won’t get back together at college – simple! No hard feelings or broken hearts!”
- 23. “Love isn’t always that simple, Alana.” “This will be.” “But-” “Mum, trust me. It’ll be fine.” Amelia heaved a sigh, but nodded anyway. “Okay,” she said, relenting. “Go get changed. Dinner’s in about five minutes.”
- 24. The conversation she’d had with Alana stuck with Amelia for a while. The heirship wasn’t something she’d ever given any thought to – in fact, she had assumed that it would almost sort itself out as the girls got older. But now the girls were teenagers and she had no idea who she should choose. Although she had another four years left to decide before they left for college, Amelia was certain that time would fly. As she leant over the pool table to make her shot, Amelia glanced up at her mother. “Mum? How did Dad decide to make me heir?” she asked, sighing as she missed all the balls.
- 25. “Don’t you remember? He spoke to you and your older brothers about it when you were all children,” Kaylynn replied, eyeing the table carefully and planning her own shot. “Todd and Ivan didn’t want it, and you didn’t mind either way. When Galahad got old enough to understand he didn’t want it either. You four kind of made the decision for him.” “Great,” Amelia muttered under her breath. Kaylynn heard her anything, and smiled sympathetically at her daughter. “Having trouble deciding?”
- 26. “A little – okay a lot,” Amelia admitted. “It’s just so hard. I mean, Lydie’s a lot more mature than when she was a kid but I’m not sure if she’ll be able to handle the responsibility. Ivy’s would do what’s best, but she’s so idealistic I don’t think she’d always know what it was. Rosa’s so driven and will go far but I have a feeling being heir will hold her back. As for Alana, she’s sweet and nice and outgoing, but she’s convinced that she won’t have any feelings for Harry once they go to college if they’re still together in four years. It will crush her if she’s heir and in love with someone she can’t marry.”
- 27. “Have you spoken to Ichelle about this?” “Yes,” Amelia kicked the bottom of her cue. “She says it’s my decision and she’ll be happy with whatever I decide.” “She’s right.” “I know,” Amelia sighed and glanced over at the wall. “I wish Dad was here. He could help me so much right now.” “I wish he was here too,” Kaylynn agreed with a sad smile. “Just give it a couple of years. The girls are only just in high school. You don’t need to start worrying until their senior year.”
- 28. “I guess,” Amelia replied with a small shrug. “I just don’t like not knowing things.”
- 29. “And in that respect you’re far too much like your father.”
- 30. The next few days sped by for all the teens as they tried to strike up a balance between the increased workload of high school and their social lives. It wasn’t until the middle of the week that Gavin had a spare moment to talk to Rosa. As the pair of them left their chemistry class Gavin pulled Rosa to one side. They had five minutes to get to their next classes. “Hey, are you and your sisters coming to that new club this weekend?” he asked. “Flic said you were, but – you know. She can be a bit flaky sometimes.”
- 31. “We’re planning on it,” Rosa replied with a smile. Gavin looked her over, then grinned right back. “It’s about time you started acting normal,” he said. “You’ve been all weird since my birthday. What was that all about?”
- 32. Before Gavin’s very eyes Rosa’s whole demeanour changed. She wrapped an arm around herself and looked away, her face going red. “I – ah,” Rosa started. She glanced at the clock on the wall, her eyes widening. “I’m late for gym!”
- 33. Gavin watched as Rosa turned and fled, scratching his head in confusion. “Huh? What was that all about?” “Are you really that dumb?”
- 34. Gavin scowled as the only other boy in the hall pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to him. “What do you want, Elijah?” Gavin asked with a sigh. He was in no mood to deal with him. “Aw, that’s no way to greet your cousin,” Elijah mocked. Gavin scowled. “I’m trying to help, okay? You looked really oblivious when whatsherface was here.” “Rosa,” Gavin corrected. “Yeah, her. So are you going to listen to me? I do know a bit more about girls than you do.” “I’ve got two sisters!” “And I’ve got three. Big deal. So are you going to let me help or should I just walk away.”
- 35. “She likes you, dude!” “Well, yeah. We’ve been friends since we were little kids.” “And you really are that stupid.” “Hey!” “I meant she has a crush on you, you idiot.”
- 36. “What – but – she – I-” Gavin’s eyes widened and he swallowed hard. “But she’s – Rosa! She’s my friend! I couldn’t – she –” “Likes you.” “But – I don’t like her. Not like that.” “Duh.” “I should – wait, what do you mean, ‘duh’?”
- 37. “Dude, we have gym together. I’ve seen you checking out the guys there.” “What? I don’t! I’m not gay!” “Sure you’re not,” Elijah said rolling his eyes. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve got good taste. You only ever check out the hot guys.” “I’m not ashamed, I’m just not gay!” Gavin said, crossing his arms and glaring at his cousin. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Elijah laughed, then looked up at the clock on the wall. “Oh crap! I’m late for Simlish Lit! I’ll see you around, cus’!”
- 39. That day after school Ivy stayed behind to finish off an art project. It took a while and the final bell for the grade school had rung some time ago when she finally finished. Ivy pulled on her bag and scooped up her books and headed out the door.
- 40. Ivy hummed happily to herself, Ivy made her way out the room into the deserted hallway. Or so she thought. As Ivy pushed the door to the art room open she spotted him, another teen in the school uniform just stepping back to look at something he’d put on the noticeboard.
- 41. “Wow, I didn’t realise any other students stayed behind so la-” Ivy stopped talking abruptly as the boy turned around. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she could feel her cheeks heating up. She stared at him a moment before forcing herself to speak again. “Hi, I’m Ivy.” “Oliver,” the boy replied, smiling at her. His eyes flicked to the doors behind her. “Art project?” She nodded mutely. “Anything interesting?” “Um, feminism and, like, neo-classical artwork,” Ivy muttered as she silently wondered when she started sounding like an idiot.” “Oh. Sounds dull.”
- 42. “No, it’s not! All of the piece I’ve looked at have been interesting critiques of –” Ivy cut herself off again, this time deliberately, and gave a laugh to try and rid herself of the butterflies in her stomach. She could see he wasn’t that interested. “I find social and political movements to be really interesting, y’know?”
- 43. “Yeah, I guess,” Oliver replied with a shrug. He looked her over for a second before his eyes drifted back to the flyer he’d hung. “You know, there’s a meeting for townie rights on Saturday if you want to see a movement in action.” “I’d love – wait, Saturday? Evening?” He nodded. “I’d love to go but my sisters and I promised our friends we’d go to that new teen club everyone’s talking about. I’m really sorry.” “Whatever,” he replied, turning away. He walked a few steps down the hall before stopped and looking back at Ivy over his shoulder. “Figures a playable like you wouldn’t understand our plight. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
- 44. Ivy felt her blood boil at those words: if there were ever any three words you didn’t say to a knowledge sim they were ‘you wouldn’t understand’. “Hey, that’s not fair,” Ivy said, her eyes narrowed. “Just because-” “You think some club is more important than the plight of sims like me?” “I don’t! I just-” Ivy stopped suddenly – she didn’t need to explain herself to him! “You know what, I’ll see you at the meeting! Good bye!” She was half way down the hall before she turned back and asked Oliver when and where it was.
- 45. Friday came quicker than anyone would have thought. It was Luke and Lorelai’s birthday but they decided that rather than having a party they would join the slightly older teens when they went out to a club. They grew up quickly and with little fanfare, the twins remaining in the house only long enough to change their clothes and for their mother to snap a photo before they rushed out the door.
- 46. As it turned out they needn’t have rushed, at least so far as Luke was concerned. All of the girls immediately locked themselves away in Alana’s room which Nev declared to be the most sickeningly pink room on the planet while they got themselves ready for their night out. The boys, meanwhile, had nothing to do to but wait. “How much longer is this going to take?” Luke asked with a disgruntled look up the stairs. “I don’t know about your sister, but Eliza can take hours to get ready,” Harry said, glancing up the stairs. “Flic’s even worse.” Luke grimaced. Lorelai was pretty bad too. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up only to find his sister had already been awake for an hour getting ready. “We’re going to be here for hours, aren’t we?”
- 47. “They’ll probably be a while yet.” The boys jumped at the sound of Ivy’s voice. She grinned at them as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Flic and Lorelai are trying to convince Eliza to let them give her a makeover.”
- 48. “At least you’re ready,” Luke muttered under his breath – what was it with girls and taking forever? “Well yeah, that’s because I’m heading out in a couple of minutes,” she replied. At his quizzical look, she added, “I’ve got other plans. If I’m free later on I might join you guys though.”
- 49. “Aw, I thought there was going to be someone else level-headed out tonight.” Ivy turned to Harry at that, hand on hip and frowning. “What’s that supposed you mean?” “Well, you know, your aunt and sis- ouch!” Harry yelped. He glared at Gavin. “What was that for?” “Whatever, you guys,” Ivy rolled her eyes. She shook her head just as the doorbell rang. “Maybe I’ll see you lot later. Have a good night.” And with that she left.
- 50. Outside Ivy smiled tentatively at Oliver. “Hi,” she said, the indignation she’d felt only seconds earlier gone and replaced with nerves. “Hi,” he replied with a nervous glance sideways. “I don’t want to sound crazy, but I think I see a ghost.”
- 51. “What? Oh,” Ivy followed his gaze and smiled at the spectral figure floating only a couple of foot away. “That’s Grandpa. He just wants to say hello. He won’t hurt you – he can’t. He’s not even solid.” “Right,” Oliver replied, but he didn’t look convinced. “Can we go? No offence, Your grandfather’s creeping me out.”
- 52. Inside, Harry glared at his brother. “What was tha-” Harry started to snap, but he stopped abruptly, his mouth hanging open as he looked over to the stairs. “Oh, wow.” “Huh?”
- 53. “You look gorgeous,” Harry said as he slept out of his seat and pulled her into a hug. “But – you all look exactly the same as earlier!” Luke protested as he and Gavin got up. “Gee, thanks for that, bro,” Lorelai said sarcastically as she glared at her brother. “Yeah, good to know all our efforts are for nothing,” Flic grumbled, crossed her arms. “I didn’t mean-” “Don’t, you’ll just dig yourself deeper,” Gavin cut him off. “Oh,” Luke shook his head at them. “Can we just go? We’ve been waiting for like an hour now.”
- 54. “Just a sec,” Gavin said. He dodged passed all the girls, quickly making his way over to Rosa in the corner. “Can we talk?” Rosa smiled at him, but the same didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think we should just go,” she said, her voice pleasant enough but there was something off. Shaking his head, Gavin watched and she and the others walked out the door before running after her. Maybe he’d get the chance to talk to her on the way?
- 55. While the teens were preparing to go out, Ambrose Jacobs sat at home playing Don’t Wake the Llama with his brothers, feeling increasingly annoyed. “This isn’t fair,” Ambrose muttered for the fifth time in as many minutes. “Why don’t I get to go out with my friends? I’m almost a teenager too!”
- 56. “We know, Ambrose,” said the brother to Ambrose’s left, Xander, his lips pressed into a thin line and glaring at his biggest brother. “You said like fifty bazillion times already!” “Did not!” “Did too!” “Well what do you know anyway?” Ambrose muttered. “It’s not like you know what it’s like to be so much younger that everyone else.”
- 57. “You’re joking, right? You can not be that stupid.” “Shut up, Xander.” “Make me!”
- 58. On the other side of the table Noah and Caleb shared a look as Caleb stood to put the first stick on the llama. “What are they arguing about now?” Noah asked. “I don’t know,” Caleb shrugged, placing the stick carefully on the llama. “They’re been arguing since the cakes. I’ve just been tuning them out.”
- 59. After half an hour of walking Ivy and Oliver finally arrived at the meeting house. It was an ancient looking old house – a mansion really. Most of the windows were smashed and boarded up, the walls looked awful, half rotted and covered in moss, and at least half of the roof was missing. Despite all that Ivy could see that the house had once been a gorgeous old place, and it tugged on her heart to see it like this. “What happened to this place?” Ivy asked, her voice hushed. “Time.” Oliver shrugged. “Come on, we’ve got to get inside quickly.” “What? Why? We’re in the middle of nowhere here!” “I know, but townies don’t exactly have the right to free assembly. This place is pretty isolated, so the police patrol it pretty often just in case. We’ll need to find the others inside – they hide when people come along.”
- 60. Inside Ivy had to stifle a laugh. While the sight before her was even worse than outside, the sight of the four townies ‘hiding’ was… interesting to say the least. Oliver, however, was less amused. “Oh for Wright’s sake! You promised you’d get better hiding spots!” He yelled furiously. “Amanda, we can see your legs! You couldn’t be much more visible, Michelle, and Angela – no one is going to be fooled by that lampshade. And for the fiftieth time, Christian! Just because you can’t see us doesn’t mean we can’t see you!” As he finished each of the townies emerged from their ‘hiding’ spots, looking sheepish. Oliver just sighed. “Everyone, this is Ivy. Ivy, this is… everyone. Now let’s get this over with.”
- 65. This club, Lydie decided as she looked at the boy in front of her, was a good club. Half their good was dancing, Alana and Harry were being sickeningly cute on the sofa and Flic was making out with a guy she’d just met. Everyone was having a good time. “Nice hair,” Lydie said with a smirk after the boy, Alexei, introduced himself. “I’m Lydie.”
- 66. “I was about to say the same about yours,” Alexei replied, a smile tugging at his mouth. “Want to dance?”
- 67. “Sure, that’d be great,” Lydie replied with a grin. She started to turn toward the dance floor when she spotted Nev. Her aunt had managed to convince the bartender she was old enough to drink – it probably helped that she had a genuine ID. Lydie sighed – they’d already been there a couple of hours, and Nev was swaying a little, her cheeks red. Lydie didn’t need to be a knowledge sim to know what that meant. Lydie turned back to Alexei. “I’m not blowing you off, I’d really like to dance with you, but,” Lydie gestured helplessly to Nev. “My idiot aunt looks like she’s about to collapse. Rain check?”
- 68. Alexei narrowed his eyes, as though he didn’t believe her. Lydie didn’t blame him. “Come on, as if I would make up an excuse that lame,” Lydie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “How about we go on out somewhere tomorrow? Just the two of us?” “All right,” Alexei said after a moment or two. “Doc’s at 3? And you better show up.” “Doc’s at 3 it is,” she agreed before heading off to go find either Luke or Gavin – Harry was still occupied with Alana, and if Nev fell there was no way she could get her back to her feet alone.
- 69. Gavin wasn’t in the best of moods. He’d been trying all evening to pull Rosa to one side to talk to her, but she had found an excuse every time. Add to that everything his cousin Elijah had said to him earlier in the week and that he was very quickly discovering that clubs weren’t for him – he couldn’t stand the loud music and he felt stupid dancing – well, it was no wonder he reacted in the way that he did. Gav was just coming back from the toilets when this alien guy with red hair came up to him. “Hey, you’re kinda cute! How about we –”
- 70. “No! That’s it! I’ve had it up to here-” Gav stopped yelling abruptly as the expression on the other guy’s face turned to one of heartbreak. “I didn’t – I didn’t,” the boy stammered, and Gav felt his anger deflate as the boy turned and fled before he could apologise. “Crap,” Gavin muttered as he watched the boy leave. He didn’t get chance to think about it though.
- 71. “Hey, where’d Rygel run off to?” Lydie said. “Rygel?” “The alien boy – he’s my cousin,” she explained, before shrugging. “Whatever, doesn’t matter. We’ve got an emergency.” She jerked her head towards the dance floor where Nev was trying to dance. With her inability to dance combined with her current state of inebriation, well it wasn’t a pretty picture. “Can you help me get her home? I don’t want to risk her getting killed again.” Gavin nodded, relieved. He’d do just about anything to get out of here.
- 72. Most of the journey back to Nev’s went by without incident, and Lydie began to wonder if she had really needed help getting Nev home – the key word being most. Although she swayed a little as they walked not once did she lose her balance until – “Hey, that’s my house!” Nev spotted her house with a great amount of glee and – flee to the ground, laughing as she landed.
- 73. Lydie and Gav hauled Nev to her feet with a sigh. They waited for her to move again, to walk towards the house but she didn’t move, just stood there, stared up at the sky. “Nev? How many did you drink tonight?” Gav asked tentatively after they stood there for a few moments. “Only…” Nev hesitated, counting out the drinks on her fingers. “Only a lot! That’s better than a little, right?” She continued before either Gav or Lydie could answer. “It’s really cold. Why’s it so cold?” Gav shot Lydie a look. “It’ll be warmer inside, I promise.”
- 74. The promise of warmth got Nev moving. She all but ran to the house and threw the door open. “I’M HOOOOME!” she yelled and Lydie and Gavin stepped in behind her, shutting the door quietly. “Don’t you think you’d better be quiet?” “Why? Everyone’s asleep!”
- 75. “And I believe that’s why Gavin asked you to be quiet.” Gavin, Lydie and Nev all jumped as Lydie’s Aunt Natasha emerged from behind the corner, a disgruntled look on her face and a sleepy blond toddler in her arms. “Hey, Natashaaaaa!” Nev greeted her enthusiastically, but stopped at the look on her sister-in-law’s face. “O-kaaaay, I’mma gonna go bed now. Night night!”
- 76. Nev didn’t make it to bed. Nev didn’t make it far at all.
- 77. Natasha sighed as she heard the thud. She looked back at the other two teens. “Thanks for seeing she got home all right,” Natasha said as she held on tight to the now squirming toddler. “I don’t know what could have happened to her.”
- 78. “Um, yeah, no problem, Aunt Tasha,” Lydie replied, scratching the back of her neck. “We better go though. You probably want to put Jace to bed.”
- 79. Lydie hugged her aunt goodbye and the pair of them quickly left, heading home. Lydie took the time to look around at the houses – this was the first time she’d actually walked along the main residential street in Quaverton. As they reached passed by the last of the houses down here Lydie glanced across the street. Her eyes lit up. “Hey! They finally finished rebuilding that old park! Let’s go check it out!” “What? Why?” Gavin asked, but Lydie had already run across the road and into the park.
- 80. The old park was deserted, even the fire dancer and the human statues had gone home. Lydie and Gav settled on the swings just as snow started to fall from the sky. “Hey, err, you know what you saw at the club?” Gav asked nervously after a moment. “Oh, you mean that guy who was flirting with you?” Gavin nodded. “Good choice. If Rygel wasn’t one of my cousins I’d say he’s cute.”
- 81. “I wasn’t – I didn’t – It didn’t bother you?” “Nah, why would it?” “What do you mean?”
- 82. “Dude, I have two mothers. One of my uncles is in a threeway with people he met on a reality show, another uncle is a vampire, the other is an alien and we just carried home an aunt who I saw come back from the dead who’s passed out because she drank too much despite physically being a teenager. You have two Dads and a werewolf for an Aunt. And you have no problem with any of that. So why the frack should I care if you’re gay?”
- 83. “But – I’m not gay. I mean, I don’t think I’m gay,” Gav said, frowing then shaking his head. “Whatever, like I said I don’t care,” Lydie shrugged her shoulders, the smile melting from her face. “Whatever you are, you don’t like my sister. You need to tell her.”
- 84. Gavin didn’t reply right away. He bit his lip and sighed. “I know,” he said after a few moments. “It’s just – I don’t want to hurt her. She’s my best friend.” “And you think she wasn’t hurt watching the guy she likes get flirted with by someone else – another guy?” “… When did you get so smart?” “Hey! Just because I get straight C’s doesn’t mean I’m dumb!” “What does it mean, then?” “School sucks and teachers hate me?” Lydie paused, shivering visibly – even though it wasn’t snowing now it was still cold. “It’s getting late. We should probably get home.”
- 85. When Lydie arrived home she was freezing. She hopped straight in the shower and pulled on her PJs before heading to the kitchen. “Hey Grandma!” she said with a grin as she grabbed a cup of hot chocolate. “It’s chilly out tonight!” “Hello dear,” Kalynn replied. “You’re home early.”
- 86. “Yeah, I didn’t feel like going back out after me and Gav got Nev home,” Lydie shrugged her shoulders. She sat down next to her grandmother. “That and I forgot my coat.” “Lydia – it’s almost winter! You could have caught your death!” “Nah, I’m fine!” Lydie shook her head. “It’s not that cold out and besides, we were inside most of the time.” “Still...” Kaylynn tutted quietly, before latching onto the other thing. “What was wrong with your aunt? Was she ill? She really shouldn’t have been out if she wasn’t feeling well.”
- 87. “Oh no, she went and got too drunk to stay out,” Lydie said casually, mentally preparing herself for her grandmother’s explosion as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. It didn’t come. Kaylynn just sighed and shook her head like she had been expecting to hear that. “She’s really going to get into trouble one of these days. So how way your night apart from that?”
- 88. “It was fun,” Lydie said, grinning, before frowning. The house was very quiet. “Hey, where are the Mums?”
- 89. “They’ve had to go down to the police station,” Kaylynn replied. “Ivy got herself arrested.”
- 90. Ivy looked up from where she lay on the bed as she heard a couple of beeps as the holding cell door unlocked. She glanced over, and trying not to smile at the couple in the cell opposite she looked up at the police officer. “Your parents are here, kid,” he said.
- 91. “How mad are they?” she asked as she slid off the bed. “They were more in shock than anything – the one in orange said she’d expected one of your sisters – Laura or Linda or something to be the first the get arrested.” “Lydie,” Ivy corrected the name with a smile. “That’s it.”
- 92. Ivy followed him towards the main doors to the holding cells. The whole corridor was quiet save for the sound of their shoes clicking on the linoleum, so it was some thing of a shock when, as they walked past the next cells Oliver spoke up from within. “Hey, Ivy,” he said, glancing up from his book. “Tonight was fun. We should go on a date sometime.” “I’d love to!” Ivy replied, trying her level best not to gush. “I’ll let you know when I’m ungrounded.
- 93. And that’s it. There’s an heir poll for Luke and Lorelai like there was for the Browns and the Mertons last chapter. For now here’s there stats: Luke Merton Cancer – 7/1/7/7/5 Pleasure – wants to be a Game Designer Lorelai Merton Capricorn – 9/10/1/8/7 Popularity – wants to be an Icon
- 94. And this is where I leave you – with a picture of Galahad’s potential kids, Jess and Jace. Cuties, aren’t they? Anyway, this really is the last chapter until December. I’ll put something out on my legaversery on the 22nd – I just need to figure out what. Until then, goodbye!